Community Health and Primary Healthcare Services
Primary health care encompasses a large range of providers and services across the public, private and non-government sectors.
At a clinical level, it usually involves the first (primary) layer of services encountered in health care and requires teams of health professionals working together to provide comprehensive, continuous and person-centered care. Community Health and Primary Healthcare Services
While most Australians will receive primary health care through their GP, primary health care providers also include nurses (including general practice nurses, community nurses and nurse practitioners), allied health professionals, midwives, pharmacists, dentists, and Aboriginal health workers.
Primary health care is the front line of Australia’s health care system. It can be provided in the home or in community-based settings such as in general practices, other private practices, community health, local government, and non-government service settings for example, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services.
The types of services delivered under primary health care are broad ranging and include: health promotion, prevention and screening, early intervention, treatment and management.
Services may be targeted to specific population groups such as: older persons, maternity and child health, youth health, people living in rural and remote areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, refugees, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse or low sociology-economic backgrounds.
Primary health care services may also target specific health and lifestyle conditions, for example: sexual health, drug and alcohol services, oral health, cardiovascular disease, asthma, diabetes, mental health, obesity and cancer. Community Health and Primary Healthcare Services
Primary health care services will also look and operate differently as one moves from metropolitan areas to rural and remote settings. Significant variations may relate to geography, community and population characteristics, sociology-economic circumstances, infrastructure, health status, and workforce mix and availability. Health services in rural and remote areas are particularly dependent on primary health care services, particularly those provided by GPs.
Social determinants of health strongly influence the health of individuals and communities, and affect the sustainability and accessibility of health services. It is therefore important that primary health service planning and delivery recognizes the influence that factors such as housing, education, employment, infrastructure and transport can have on the health of those who live in the community, and build partnerships across sectors when there is a need to address specific issues affecting a community.
Primary health care refers to the essential health care made accessible to individuals in a community at costs that they can afford. The World Health Organization (WHO) put forward the concept of primary health care that focuses more on the importance of community participation by identifying some of the social, economic, and environmental determinants. It includes the basic services required for meeting one’s everyday health care needs like conducting a regular checkup with the family doctor or visiting low income health clinics.Community Health and Primary Healthcare Services
Primary health care centers offer professional medical care for individuals based on a locality or community before shifting them to more advanced hospital-based care like the general specialist and super specialist. In fact, primary health care forms the vital aspect of a country’s health system while immensely assisting in the sociology-economic development of the community. All primary health care clinics tend to focus more on the quality of the service offered while maintaining cost effectiveness.
The clinics that offer primary health care services usually include a team approach that facilitates appropriate care to an individual. It has also incorporated some of the latest aspects like the sharing of information among health care providers while focusing on promoting the health, preventing illness, and other chronic conditions. Moreover, primary health care also forges a new connection and participation within the members of a community.
Role and Benefits of Primary Health Care
The main role of primary health care is to provide continuous and comprehensive care to the patients. It also helps in making the patient available with the various social welfare and public health services initiated by the concerned governing bodies and other organizations. The other major role of a primary health care center is to offer quality health and social services to the underprivileged sections of the society.Community Health and Primary Healthcare Services
As for the benefits of primary health care to the members of a community, it offers the first set of professional care to the patients by incorporating a proactive approach that utilizes several preventive measures, management of chronic disease, and promoting self-care. Along with that, primary health care provides increased accessibility to advanced health care system for the community, which results in excellent health outcomes and prevention of delay.
All primary health care clinics contain a dedicated team of healthcare professionals offering the best medical services. They provide a coordinated approach to the delivery of health care that ensures that the beneficiaries receive the best care from the right health provider.Community Health and Primary Healthcare Services
Community health workers are dedicated individuals who function along a continuum ranging from individual and community development to service delivery and promoting community empowerment and social justice. They often help link people to needed health care information and services.
Community health workers work in all geographic settings, including rural, urban and metropolitan areas; border regions (colonias); and the Native American nations. Although their roles vary depending on locale and cultural setting, they are most often found working in underprivileged marginalized communities where people may have limited resources; lack access to quality health care; lack the means to pay for health care; speak English fluently; or have cultural beliefs, values and behaviors different from those of the dominant Western health care system. In these communities, community health workers play an integral role in helping systems become more culturally appropriate and relevant to the people the systems serve.Community Health and Primary Healthcare Services